Playing the Field: A Diamonds and Dugouts Novel

by Jennifer Seasons

  Taking a step in retreat, Sonny bit her lip to keep from laughing when Leslie snapped, “Get your hands off me. And I’m not a fucking horse, Kowalskin.” But with her gentle southern accent all that angry just sounded so pretty.

  The sound of Peter’s laughter followed Sonny down the hall as she backtracked and renewed her search. She couldn’t wait to tell JP. Shaking her head at the scene she’d witnessed, she made her way through the house and came up empty. There was no sign of him anywhere.

  Come to think of it, there was no Charlie either. Where could they be?

  She hadn’t looked out front, so she went down the stairs and out the front door. On the way through she made small talk and kept an eye out for either of them. But she had no luck.

  Next stop was the huge front yard with the stone and wood fence. Sonny stepped out onto the grass and took a slow turn, looking for clues about where they might be. About to give up, she finally spotted her boy with Lorelei, running shirtless and barefoot over the grass on the far side of the lawn. He tossed a quick wave over his shoulder and she looked behind him, finding JP sitting on a rock holding something.

  Deciding to find out what was up, Sonny kicked off her flip-flops and strolled easy across the cool green grass. The closer she got to him, the faster her heart beat. Emotions played tug-of-war inside her, and by the time she was standing in front of JP her stomach was tied in knots. Everything between them seemed to be happening so fast.

  Sonny didn’t think she was wrong for feeling uncertain and a little shaky. In a few short months she’d gone from closed off single mom to falling in love with a sports celebrity.

  If she felt like it was all spinning too quickly, who could blame her? And it wasn’t her crazy saying that either. That was just calm logic. She was pretty sure anyway.

  “Hey there, pretty lady.” His watchful gaze was positively sinful. It made her unease lower a few notches. How could things be wrong when he looked at her that way?

  “I just saw the boy head off that way.” She pointed over her shoulder toward the house.

  He set down a magazine and said, “Yeah. We were agreeing on a day for me to make one of his games.”

  She tipped her head and glanced down at him. “Really?”

  “Why wouldn’t I?”

  A good answer evaded her. “You’re just so busy.”

  JP shrugged a shoulder and changed the topic. “I can make the time. You look pretty in that dress.” His gaze was steady on her chest. Sonny could feel her nipples get hard from his attention.

  Trying to ignore the way her breasts had plumped and gone achy, she tucked a wayward curl behind her ear and studied JP. He was so darn good-looking. No wonder the tabloids liked to take his picture. With his strong features, full lips, and gorgeous eyes, he was a natural-born cover model.

  And right now he had those sinner’s eyes on her. “I’ve come to apologize if I upset you earlier.”

  His gaze warmed and he reached out a hand for her. Sonny took it and he pulled her between his legs. “No worries. I got over it.”

  He had too. She could see it in the way he was sitting. He was so much less tense than earlier. “Oh. That’s good.” It was too, but now she didn’t know what to say. She’d built up a speech in her mind. But, then she thought about what she’d seen in the bathroom and she jerked in his arms. “Oh my God! I forgot to tell you.”

  He feigned surprise. “Oh my God, what did you forget to tell me?”

  Sonny made a face. “If you keep making fun of me I won’t tell you.”

  JP’s hands crept down her back and squeezed her butt. “’Kay.”

  She narrowed her eyes at him. “Promise?”

  He squeezed again. “Promise.”

  Because she still could hardly believe it, Sonny opened her mouth and nothing but a giggle came out. She tried again and was overtaken once more by a fit of giggles. It was just too good.

  “What’s so funny?” She could tell that he really wanted to know.

  Sonny waved a hand in front of her like a fan and said through the giggles. “I walked in on Pete and Leslie in the bathroom.”

  His eyebrows shot up. “No shit?”

  “It looked like that, but he was actually helping her get a bee stinger out of her bikini line.” She could still picture Leslie’s face and fell into laughter again.

  JP smirked. “I’m sure Pete took his sweet time getting it out.”

  Yeah, she’d had that thought too.

  Smiling down at him, Sonny felt her heart get all wobbly when his amber eyes went soft on her. He had a way of looking at her that made everything else disappear. And because he made her want to, she leaned into him and wrapped her arms around his neck. Then she pulled him close for a slow, lingering kiss, knowing that there were still issues between them. That knowledge made her a little panicky and she rejected it, diving into the kiss and losing herself in the feel of him.

  A peal of laughter came from their left and Charlie suddenly appeared, skidding to a halt. “They’re getting ready to play chicken in the pool, JP. You gotta help me!” He spotted them and his eyes went round. “Whoa.”

  Sonny yanked away from JP so fast she pitched off balance and almost landed on her butt. “Charlie! I didn’t hear you coming.” She tugged her dress down and smoothed her hair as JP pushed away from the rock and stood up.

  Her son gave her an unreadable look. “I wasn’t being sneaky.”

  Shit. She wasn’t ready for Charlie to know about this. Oh God, how was he going to handle it?

  Charlie tipped his chin up and said to JP, “Do you want to play chicken with me? It’s us against Drake and Susie.”

  Considering the first baseman outweighed JP by a good forty pounds, she figured the age gap between the two kids made things even.

  Her stomach dropped when Charlie wouldn’t even look at her. He kept his gaze on the man currently standing next to her, and anxiety started to claw at her throat. What had she done, being so careless? JP spoke casually, “I’ll be there in a minute, champ, and we’ll wipe the pool with them.”

  As soon as he heard that, her boy spun on his heels and took off. The second he was out of sight, Sonny sighed and rubbed her eyes. “I have to go talk to him.” She was so not looking forward to it. This was one discussion she’d never thought she’d have to have with Charlie.

  JP stayed her with a hand. “Easy, Sonny. Don’t get stressed and upset. Didn’t he already know?” Something in the tone of his voice sounded off when he asked that question.

  Sonny spread her fingers and peered at him, suspicion creeping into her tone. “What do you mean?”

  He rocked back on his heels and crossed his arms, looking uncharacteristically edgy. “I had a talk with Charlie a little bit ago. He said he knew.”

  JP did what?

  Indignation slammed into Sonny and all rational thought flew right out her ears. “You talked to my son about us?” How dare he!

  JP nodded, “Yeah. You mean he didn’t already know?”

  Sonny kept her voice very calm. Inside she was raging. “No, he didn’t already know.”

  Something changed in JP. His eyes shuttered and his body grew tense. “Why haven’t you told him about us?”

  Sonny completely missed the edge in his voice. “He is my son, JP.”

  He set his jaw stubbornly. “Yeah, and you’re my girlfriend. You didn’t think he had a right to know that?”

  Didn’t he get it? “When it comes to Charlie you don’t get to call the shots, Jason.” It felt good using his full name. She was mad as hell. “What made you think that you could just take the decisions about how I raise my child out of my hands without even talking to me? Are you always this controlling?”

  The look he shot her was lethal. “Wait. What are you talking about? What the hell is going on here?” He raked a hand through his hair and swore.

  Her mad was building up steam. Maybe it was from hiding all her fears about their relationship. It had just been building under th
e surface, getting ready to erupt like a volcano this whole time. “I’m talking about you, JP. And how you think you can just saunter into my life, taking over everything, because you want it a certain way. You’re not in control of me. You’re not in control of what I tell my own child.” He opened his mouth to speak and she wouldn’t let him. “Damn it, you don’t get to dictate.”

  That made him mad. “Now hold on a minute. I didn’t tell Charlie.”

  “No, you hold on.” Every ounce of edgy insecurity she’d been fighting came flooding out. “Charlie and I were perfectly happy before you came along and decided it was all going to be on your terms.”

  He held up his hands incredulously. “My terms? You think all this has been on my terms?”

  If it hadn’t, that said a ton about JP. “You came at this thinking that you knew what was best for everyone involved. When you didn’t, and you don’t. And you certainly don’t get to make parenting decisions for me.”

  He stared at her hard, his jaw set tight. “Right. Because me trying to show you that I can make capable parenting decisions is such a horrible thing.” His gaze went cold. “Why were you hiding us from him?”

  “Because he wasn’t ready!” And because telling Charlie made their relationship real. She wasn’t ready for real. “I knew this was going to happen.”

  JP scowled. “What exactly did you know?” He raked a hand through his hair and paced a few steps away. He stopped and turned around, his gaze searching her face. “Is this fight because I talked about us moving in together?”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” The denial was instant.

  His long, muscular legs ate up ground as he came back to her. “I scared you when I talked about it. I know I did.”

  Emotion welled in her and she threw up her hand, declaring, “Of course you did! I’m a single mother, for God’s sake! You don’t just up and talk about moving in together after a few weeks. What the hell were you thinking? Why would you say something like that?” She’d wanted to ask him that from the moment he’d first mentioned it to her.

  Pain flashed in the amber depths of his eyes and he jerked. “Because I’m falling for you, Sonny, that’s why!”

  The world ground to a halt and everything inside her went still. “You’re what?”

  His voice went soft. “I’m falling for you.”

  She went from still to chaotic in a heartbeat. Emotions pumped through her with violent force, and that part of her she didn’t trust leapt up and started screaming at her to take Charlie and run away. Just run away and ignore everything that frightened her.

  It was so, so tempting.

  But she didn’t do it. Instead she reached down deep inside herself for control. “Do you swear you didn’t tell Charlie about us on purpose?”

  He held out both hands palms up. “I didn’t tell him. Not like you think.”

  She blew out a breath and tried to calm down, tried to trust him. “How did he find out then?”

  “He’s a smart kid, Sonny. Maybe he just figured it out.”

  The logic behind it made sense. Charlie was too damn smart for his own good sometimes. “Okay. You’re probably right.”

  JP took a step toward her, his eyes dark and his voice soft. “Are you going to respond to the other thing I said?”

  Not if she could help it. She wasn’t ready. She was way too wound up inside and unstable. “I don’t know what to say, JP.” Hopefully he’d let it be for now, until she’d sorted through her feelings.

  He took another step. “You could say it back.” His voice was barely more than a whisper.

  Right then she couldn’t do what he wanted, wasn’t sure if she ever could, so she stepped to the side and tried to put some space between them. When she did, her eyes landed on the magazine JP had been holding. “What were you looking at?” She asked and pointed to it, trying to change the subject.

  All of a sudden his face went pale. “Sonny, wait. Don’t look at that. Let me explain—”

  But it was too late. She’d already snatched the magazine off the rock and glanced at the cover. What she saw made her blood run cold. On the front page was a photo of her and JP from their day of tubing, kissing, and touching intimately on the riverbank, their private moment plastered across the front of a tabloid for all the world to see. The headline read: BASEBALL STAR SCORES BIG OFF THE FIELD.

  Something inside her snapped. Oh, that was it. That was just fucking it.

  She couldn’t do this anymore. Taking a step in retreat, she waffled her hand between the two of them, still holding the magazine. “This was a mistake.”

  His eyes narrowed to a terrifying degree. “Are you serious?” His voice was eerily calm.

  Desperate to regain a measure of control, Sonny nodded. “I was foolish to think a relationship with you would work, that I could deal with who you are and your life. But I can’t.”

  He stood there staring at her, his eyes hot and dark and angry. “So you’re just going to walk away from what we’re building together because of some goddamn gossip magazine?”

  She turned to go find Charlie so they could leave and tossed the offensive thing on the ground. “That’s exactly what I’m going to do.”

  JP swore behind her. “Fuck. You’re making the wrong choice. We have something special happening here.”

  It wouldn’t be the first time. She could make a whole blasted career out of them. When would she ever learn?

  Leaving JP behind, she headed for her flip-flops in the grass by the house. Suddenly a thought occurred to her, and she threw up her hands. “Of frigging course!”

  It was Saturday.

  Everything bad in her entire life happened on that damn day. Holding her head up high, Sonny fought for composure as she spotted Peter nearby. Just what she needed. He’d witnessed the whole frigging thing.

  He looked past her toward JP and shook his head as she stormed by. “Man, I gotta stop throwing parties.”

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  * * *

  A WEEK HAD passed and JP was still mad. Damn her stubborn ass, he thought as he hung up his phone. Why wouldn’t she answer her cell? He’d been trying to call her for days now and she hadn’t picked up once. The woman was avoiding him like a pro.

  As he walked into his kitchen at the crack of dawn in a pair of plaid boxers, grumpy from no sleep, he scowled and yanked open the refrigerator door. Didn’t she understand yet that he hadn’t done anything wrong? He hadn’t planted the fucking paparazzi. But you wouldn’t know it by the way that woman had tore into him, her anger cold and bitter. The way she’d looked at him, her eyes so remote, still made his blood freeze up. Who knew that she had that side to her?

  Sonny went as cold as an Alaska January when she was mad.

  JP grabbed the jug of Florida orange juice and slammed the refrigerator door shut. Twisting off the top with more force than necessary, he brought the half-empty jug to his lips and took a long, long drink. He’d been trying everything since their fight a few days ago to cool the fire in his gut. But he couldn’t do it because the fact was that he was just plain pissed off about the whole thing. He’d thought Sonny had more trust in him than that.

  Apparently not though. She’d simply shut down when she’d seen that goddamn photograph. He had never seen a person climb back up inside themselves and shut down faster than Sonny Miller.

  One minute she’d been warm and soft and present, and the next she’d been gone like the wind, staring at him with chilly, distant blue eyes. As if the intimacy they’d shared had done nothing to merit more from her than that.

  “Damn!” JP slammed the orange juice jug on the counter. He did deserve more merit than that. And that was just what he was going to tell her.

  Leaving the jug there, he stomped out of the kitchen and up the stairs to his room. Why was it always this way? Why did nobody see the rightness of a situation without him spelling it out for them?

  Yanking open the top drawer on the bureau against the far wal
l that he shared with the neighbor, JP reached inside and pulled out a clean pair of socks. Through the wall he heard the Siamese next door begin to stir. Her yowling started slow and increased in volume and frequency until she was caterwauling like she was the last cat on earth.

  Just frigging fed up with listening to that goddamn cat every minute of every day that he was home, JP pounded a fist against the wall and yelled, “Shut the fuck up!”

  Miracle of miracles, the cat shut up.

  Glaring at the wall for good measure, JP grabbed the rest of his clothes and headed to the shower. It wasn’t until the hot water was pouring over him that the stress released from his shoulders and he was able to see a glimpse of the silver lining he’d been taught by his parents to look for. Lathering his hands with soap, a few swipes of the suds, and he was rinsing clean.

  Maybe since she wasn’t answering her phone he should hop on in his truck and go pay her a visit. It was so early that he’d be back in plenty of time for the game that evening. Besides, this was important. It was their future on the line.

  It just sucked, though. With baseball he knew what he was capable of and that there was nothing he couldn’t do if he put his mind to it. Always a matter of determination, JP had the deeply ingrained knowledge that whatever the sport threw his way, he would come out on top.

  But this. This was different.

  There were so many moving parts and Sonny was a real live person with feelings. His hard-nosed persistence was all he had to use with her. JP closed his eyes as he tipped his head to the ceiling and felt the spray massage his shoulders. With any luck that would be all he needed.

  Because the fact was he couldn’t change who he was. He couldn’t change the fact that people knew his name. In all honesty he didn’t want to, even if he could. Ever since he was a kid, he’d dreamed of being a famous baseball player. Granted he hadn’t envisioned how much of an annoyance paparazzi could be, but then again he hadn’t expected to fall in a love with a woman so hell-bent on keeping herself off the radar.

  Maybe if he showed up at Sonny’s place she’d be ready to talk. Yeah. She was a logical person. Of course she’d be ready.